BaronSFel001 wrote on 2026-08-21, 15:29:

I was just having one of my contemplations: such a shame CIF had been ditched before the Radeon line and no backwards compatibility was considered, because that would've been something else fun to experiment with on my 8500.

Strangely enough Rage128 by the ATi specifications should have 3DCIF support, but even there it was canceled at the late 1998 or early 1999.
So far latest 3DCIF cards are Rage XL AGP ones,by the time Rage6 (Radeon) came, 3DCIF was long gone. 8500 is good card, supports TruForm.

marxveix wrote on 2026-08-21, 20:27:

8500 is good card, supports TruForm.

Exactly the reason I got it, along with its solid Direct3D support helpful in covering several other turn-of-the-millennium bases exceeding my Voodoo's future-proofing.

Looking for Rage XL AGP cards and do not know what to pick?
If you dont fancy the looks,you can take these L shaped ones.
640x480 looks clean to me and it supports up to 1600x1200.

ATi Rage XL AGP 8MB 64bit, all have Rage XL 66702 rom (vga bios)
109-66710-01 : has 2000 written on pcb and has different colors.
109-66700-01 and 109-6670-00 look more twin brothers to me.

Some 109-66700-01 have reg2 chip in place and others missing it.
My 109-66700-00 also has reg2 and my 109-66700-01 have not.
I have seen those ATi Rage XL AGP cards with 6ns and 7ns memory.

ATi PN to look for, any 109-667xx-xx will do (all good)
109-66710-01 (newest)
109-66700-01 (middle)
109-66700-00 (oldest)

Someone that is looking all ATi Rage 2/3 Tweaker Tools!
Some settings change need pc restart, like 15/16 colors.
Rage2 Rage3 Tweaker and Development All Working.7z

Rage Pro Tweaker 1.0
Rage Pro Tweaker 1.1
Rage Pro Tweaker 1.2
Rage 2 Tweaker (+needed runtime files - working)
Rage 2 Tweaker Developmental Options (Rage2/3)

----------------------------------------------------------------

15-Bit High Color (RGB 555) 32,768 / 16-Bit High Color (RGB 565) 65,536 colors.
I usually use 565.bat and 555.bat to change color depth for ATi Rage 2 and Rage 3.
565/555 bat makes automatic restart as they need restart to activate the change.

By default ATiRage uses 15bit 555, even if desktop window show 16bit high colors.
I use those in my win9x with ati.ico and shortcut to my desktop to change quickly.
This change does not change OpenGL, seem its for D3D, ATi 3DCIF and DirectDraw.

Please remember some games and some demos like 15bit 555 and others 16 565!
16bit 565 look better and for any glide wrapper use 16bit 565, it also faster there.
I hope this helps to change setting quicker and its smaller,its in my driver update.

(it should work well, make backup of your system.ini to be 100% safe, thank you)

ARx2611x3Dxl=ARx2611x3Dx2 updated, it has 3Dfx and 3Dgl (two similar drivers).
WinG 1.0 API added, Desktop shortcuts added and 555 / 565 Color Depth is added.
555 / 565 settings change needs restart and those make also automatic pc restart.

Driver installs atidbg.ini automatically and MultiTexture is enabled by default now.
Default OGL and Bilinear Off is also at desktop for quick OpenGL settings changes!
Bilinear Off is still fastest, but MultiTexture enabled is faster than default Bilinear.

2 colors (monochrome) now possible to use, but only at 640x480, just like 16 color.
16 color needs restart and also 2 color mode,ATi drivers support 8, 16, 24, 32 by drv.
Actually it supports 8, 15bit 555 and 16bit 565 high colors, plus 24 and 32 true color.

XLDVD.bat / Rage23.bat could also to be added to the desktop @ shortcut if needed.
XLDVD.bat is for ATi DVDv1 or ATi DVDv2 if you own RageXL and want DVD playback.
If you do not use DVD, then it probably not needed at all and default atid32ad.dll ok.

Core files are all the same in the driver,you get working 6 x shortcuts and WinG api
List of WinG games : https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_WinG_games
OpenGL is the same v1091, but i can recommend also v1073 and from newer v1100

Updated ATiDVD,no need to install ATiDVD Player/ATiMMC Control Panel separaetly

No need to install ATi DVD CP later
Added ATi DVD Player Control Panel!
Its at Start-Settings-Control Panel

Install ATi DVD @ setup.bat to get
ATi MMC Control Panel also for DVD

ATiDVDv1.7z
ATi DVD Player 3.10
Engine v1.0.28.5034

ATiDVDv2.7z
ATi DVD Player 3.10
Engine v1.0.32.5653

Full packages here
https://hingetee.ee/library/ARx2611x3Dxl.7z
https://hingetee.ee/library/AVPDVDATiCombo.7z
https://hingetee.ee/library/ATiRage3MMC+DVD.7z

Since you have been finding ways to improve on the Rage 3 drives, is there any chance you could take a look at this? I'm not sure if it's even fixable. These early Rage cards have a problem in 8-bit color mode where they produce a slightly corrupted display along horizontal lines.

Re: Is there any way to improve the VGA output for early ATI Rage video cards?

Kahenraz wrote on Today, 02:55:

Since you have been finding ways to improve on the Rage 3 drives, is there any chance you could take a look at this? I'm not sure if it's even fixable. These early Rage cards have a problem in 8-bit color mode where they produce a slightly corrupted display along horizontal lines.

Re: Is there any way to improve the VGA output for early ATI Rage video cards?

I havent played so much in dos or win9x with regular quake (software mode). Of course if i find something i am gona let you know.

It's easiest to spot in Sim City 2000 (any OS). You just need to be in 8-bit colors.